&#39;&#39;cards and card game&#39;&#39;

ABSTRACT

This patent relates to novel playing cards and games that can be played with those cards. The novel cards have the suit on one side and the card&#39;s value on the other. Thus, when they are dealt, the player will know the suit of some or all cards in his hand, but will not know the value.

[0001] This patent relates to a novel card game and the associated novelcards. Typically playing cards have four suits and a series of valuesfrom 2 through ace. Traditionally, a card's value and the suit aredisplayed on one side of the card and the card back generally has anon-descriptive back (although there are some playing cards that“magicians” use that display the value and/or suit in a code on the cardback).

[0002] The difference between the current invention and prior artplaying cards is the suit is displayed on one side of the card and thevalue is on the other side. This configuration allows cards to be dealtso that the suit is displayed, but the value of the card is not. Thisgives the player some additional information about his odds of winningand may help determine the value of his bet.

[0003] The cards described in this patent could also be used with theapplicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 10/015,314, as described inmore detail below.

[0004] This invention can be used with traditional (i.e.,non-electronic) playing cards or could be used with video gamblingmachines.

[0005] Another version of the invention allows some of the cards to havetraditional, non-descriptive backs and some cards have the novel cardswith the suit on one side and the value on the other, which I will referto as split representation. In the video version of these games whereonly some of the cards that have the split representation, the cardscould be changed cards from one game to the next to prevent the playerfrom getting an unfair advantage. For example, if the seven of spadesused a traditional representation (i.e., suit and value on the sameside) in one game it could be changed in the next hand so that spadeswas shown on one side and the seven was shown on the other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] “Traditional” Video Poker”

[0007]FIG. 1 shown how this innovative card game would be played on a“traditional” video poker machine.

[0008] In this game the player would be dealt five cards, cards 10, 20,30, 40, and 50. The novel aspect of the game is that the player wouldknow the suit of all five cards but would not know the value, whichwould be “face down” and hidden. The player could the bet, discardcertain cards and get new cards to replace the cards he had discarded.The cards would then be revealed, as shown in 10A, 20A, 30A, 40A and 50AThe resulting hand could be compared to a paytable and the machine wouldpay out depending on the paytable. For example a pair of jacks or betterwould pay two to one.

[0009] As shown in FIG. 2, this game could be modified so that only someof the cards are split representation and the remaining cards aretraditional. In this Figure cards 80 and 90 are traditional cards andthe others are the novel cards of this invention. The game would then beplayed in a conventional manner. Bets could be made and new cards drawn.

[0010] The mix of traditional and split representation cards could bechanged from game to game to prevent players from knowing in advance thevalue of the cards.

[0011] Multihand Game

[0012] One version of the game is similar to the game described inco-pending application Ser. No. 10/015,314. In this version of the game,shown in FIG. 3, the all or some of the cards could be splitrepresentation. The player would then know the suit of some or all ofthe cards and would be able to exchange cards between the hands asdescribed in more detail in that application. FIG. 3 shows exchangingcard 300 with 380 and 340 for 420. This would give the player a flush inhand D.

[0013] If all the cards' suits were known and the player could freelyexchange cards, however, the game might be too easy because the playercould almost always exchange cards to form a flush (i.e., all cards ofthe same suit). As shown in FIG. 3, the player would easily be able toexchange his cards a form a flush and win. To make the game moredifficult, the machine could limit the number of exchanges to one or twocards, for example, or it could restrict the exchange to opposing cards(number 310 and 410 for example), or it could limit the exchange tocorner cards. As described in more detail in co-pending application Ser.No. 10/015,314, in alternate versions of the game bets could be requiredbefore an exchange were permitted. In these versions, the player wouldin effect have to buy the right to exchange cards. In another version,the player would have to pay for each hand (e.g., on quarter for onehand, four quarters would get four hands, etc.)

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, to make the game more challenging the cornercards could be conventional and the interior cards could be the novelsplit representation. This arrangement would allow the player to knowthe suit of only three of his five cards. He could then exchange cards,bet and then reveal the corner cards. Additional betting could takeplace either before or after the card exchange, and the card exchangecould take place before the corner cards were revealed.

[0015] Alternatively, the corner cards could be conventional and couldbe dealt face up. In this embodiment, the player would know the suit andvalue of the corner cards (two cards in each hand) and would know thesuit, but not the value of the interior cards. Betting to could thentake place and the player could exchange some or all of the cards.

[0016] A similar version would be to invert the layout. The interiorcards could be conventional and the corner cards could be the splitrepresentation.

[0017] Although a diamond shape is illustrated, other shapes could beused, as could a row and column matrix.

[0018] Using the novel aspect of this card game, having the suit on oneside and the value on the other could lead to a variety of other gamesthat would be covered by the claims.

What I claim:
 1. Playing cards, or an electronic representation, thathave the suit on one side and the value on the other side.
 2. A deck ofplaying cards, or an electronic representation, where some of the cardshave the suit on one side and the value on the other, and the remainingcards have the suit and value on the same side and a non-descriptiveback.
 3. A poker game where cards are dealt in a diamond pattern, someor all of the cards are split representation, the player is allowed toexchange cards between hands, and the player is paid off according to apaytable.
 4. A poker game where cards are dealt in a diamond pattern,the interior cards of the pattern are split representation cards and thecorner cards are conventional cards dealt face down, the player ispermitted to exchange some or all of the cards and is paid off accordingto a paytable.
 5. A poker game where n hands of cards are dealt wheresome or all of the cards are split representation cards, one or morebets can be placed and the player is paid off according to a paytable.6. A method of playing poker where some or all of the cards are splitrepresentation.